Partitioning for boxes



1. E. LA BOMBARD.

PARTITIONING FOR BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1918.

Patented June 28, 1921.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOIR. TO SPECIALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PARTITIONING FOR BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON E. LA BoMBARD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and vals extending from one edge half way across. Then these strips are crossed and the slots interengaged in a manner so well known as to need no further description. Objections to the ordinary form, which I overcome by my improved structure, are that the interlocked strips either come apart too readily or can be folded or'collapsed in but one direction.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide partitioning of the general character mentloned, the members of which will remain interengaged through all ordinary handling.

Another object is to provlde such part1- tioning which, when converted from flat or collapsed form to cell form, will remain interlocked and present square cells while being transferred into the box to be part1- tioned.

Another object is to provide cushioned partitioning of this character, to reduce liability of breaking the fragile articles in the cells.

With these objects in view, my invention consists in the cell partitioning substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a plan or edge view of strips constructed according to my invention, interlocked and opened or set up to provide, when in a box, cells for a dozen eggs or other articles.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same collapsed for shipment or storage.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the strips.

Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, enlarged.

Each strip a, of material such as pasteboard, is provided with regularly spaced transverse slits which are inter-engaged when two sets of such strips are assembled in the usual and well known manner. Heretofore a common way of forming the slits is by cutting out narrow slivers of material so as to form slots the bottoms of which, in the two sets, contact when assembled. The resillt is that there is no such friction between the interengaging contacting portions as will firmly hold the several strips in proper relationship.

As best shown by comparing Figs. 1 and 3, I do not remove any material to form the crevices. Instead, I simply form slits 6 extending slightly past the mid-width of the strip, and widen out or open said slits by crimping the material each side thereof, as at c. Preferably the crimps a terminate slightly short of the mid-width of the strip; that is, the crimps are shorter than the slits. This causes the resulting crevices to taper at their inner ends, which tapering ends, when those of two oppositely slitted strips are interengaged in the usual manner, take such a frictional hold upon each other as to retain that hold during all ordinary handling. There is a further frictional grip of the inter-engaged strips upon each other due to the fact that the sides of the slits are not rigid as they would be if the crimps were absent, but are elastic or yielding due to said crimps. The crimps are not deep, but displace only enough material to draw the sides of the slit apart a distance slightly less than the thickness of the material so that when the strips are interengaged, the edges of the material at the sides of the slits in each strip will bear yieldingly and frictionally against the flat surfaces of the uncut portions of the opposite or mating strips. Preferably the assemblage of the strips will be facilitated by beveling the entrances to the crevices, as at (Z.

Partitioning constructed as described can be folded or collapsed in either direction. In other words, assuming that the strips have been assembled as shown in Fig. 1, they can be laid against each other as shown in Fig. 2 by relatively moving them in the direction of the arrows at, Fig. 1, or can be folded in the opposite direction by relatively moving them in the direction of the arrows 3 At the same time, owing to the elastic nature .of the edges of the crevices, the members, when opened up to the Iflg. 1 condition, will remain in relative posltions to present substantially s uare cells while the partitioning is being tted into a box such -as indicated by the dotted rectangle in Fig. 1.

Incidentally and advantageously, the crimps c stiffen the edges of the crevices.

A further feature of my improvements consists in the cushioning effect of the eggs or other articles placed in the cells, obtained by transversely corrugating the strips as at e, at proper distances from the crevices, so that such articles (portions of which are indicated by dotted curves in Fig. 1) will not bear against the opposite surfaces of fiat material which can have but slight elasticity. These corrugations 6 need not extend the full width of the strips, but unless they are quite short, they serve the further purpose of transversely stiffening the strips.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

- 1. Box partitioning comprising strips having interengaging transverse crevices the edges of which are treated to render them elastic, the portions immediately adjacent to the said elastic edges being flat and relatively inelastic, the construction being such as to retain the strips in interengaged re1ationship by frictional grip of the elastic edges of the crevices upon flat portions of the companion strips.

2. Box partitioning comprising strips each having slits extending inwardly from one edge and having crimps closely adjacent to the slits whereby said slits are capable of expanding to increase their width.

3. Box partitioning comprising strips each having slits extending inwardly from one edge, and having crimps adjacent the slits, Silid crimps being of less length than the s its.

4. Box partitioning comprising strips each having slits extending inwardly from one edge, and having crimps adjacent the slits, said slits extending past the mid-with of the strips and the crimps being of less length than the slits.

5. The method of making partitioning for boxes, consisting in transversely slitting strips of sheet material part way across,

widening the slits by crimping the material adjacent the slits, and then interlocking a plurality of the strips by interengaging the widened slits thereof. 1

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD. 

